Abstract
Promoting access to education and reducing the number of people claiming state benefits have been key government priorities in recent years. In 1999 the present Government, recognising the existence of the benefit trap, introduced the ‘New Deal’ programme to encourage benefit claimants into work. Under the scheme participants may receive financial support for courses of up to one year. The scheme, therefore, does not apply to courses in higher education.
For lone parents on state benefits, given high childcare costs, work is only a viable option if it is well paid. For those lacking qualifications the only way that this can be achieved is through higher education.
In analysing the experiences of seven lone parent students at Queen Margaret University College in Edinburgh, this article provides an insight into factors that contribute to the under-representation of this group in higher education. The financial position of the lone parent on benefits is compared with that of the lone parent student. What it reveals are anomalies in the funding system and contradictions in the Government's policy of assisting benefit claimants into work.
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